In a universe of tortured souls, Bruce Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk, may be the most tortured. The result of a gamma experiment gone wrong, the Hulk was a massive monster who took over Dr. Banner’s body when the latter became angry, injured, or threatened. The resulting out-of-control rampage would often be unstoppable and irreparably destructive, saddling him with complicated feelings of guilt.
Though Banner eventually found a way to live in harmony with the gamma giant between the events of Infinity War and Endgame, his past will continue to follow him into his new life.
10 Integrating The Mind Stone Into Vision
When the Avengers bring Vision to Wakanda to see about harmlessly extracting the Mind Stone from the android, it’s revealed Banner and Stark engaged in some shoddy workmanship when they created him.
Wakanda’s chief scientist and royal family member, Shuri, gently chides Banner for not reprogramming Vision’s synapses to work collectively. As a result, she’s forced to work with each neuron individually as she attempts to save his life. Honest mistake, oversight, or ignorance, it cost the team vital time and ultimately Vision’s life.
9 Hiding During The Infinity War
As Thanos’s “children” Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw arrive in New York City, Banner stands side by side with Wong, Dr. Strange, and Tony Stark. However, when the time comes for him to do his part and defend the city, the Hulk refuses to emerge, leaving him useless.
The same thing happens later in the film when Banner battles Cull Obsidian in Wakanda. The former begs the Hulk to help him turn the tides of the conflict, but still, the Hulk refuses.
8 Destroying An African City
When the Avengers tracked Ultron to the then-obscure African nation of Wakanda, they expected an easier fight than the one they got. Aside from being ambushed by Ultron’s duplicate sentries, they were also confronted by the recently freed Maximoff twins.
While Pietro used his speed to outmaneuver and disorient the team, Wanda infected their minds one by one. She easily gets into Banner’s head and sends him into an uncontrollable rage, which he takes out on a nearby city. The fight to subdue him – which involved the deployment of the Hulkbuster armor – likely cost citizens homes, jobs, and lives.
7 Fighting Thor On Sakaar
During the events of Thor: Ragnarok, the titular Norse god is forced to fight in an intergalactic gladiator tournament called the “Contest of Champions.” He’s shocked (iconically so) to find out that his opponent is none other than the Incredible Hulk.
Despite Thor’s attempts to connect with the Hulk and remind him of their shared adventures together, the petty monster insists on a lengthy battle that gets neither of them anywhere. When they both wake up in captivity once more, Hulk is unable to own up to his mistakes and help his friend escape the terrifying planet.
6 Leaving Earth And His Teammates To Face The Threats Alone
In the immediate aftermath of the battle of Sokovia, the Avengers could only imagine the consequences about to be brought down upon them by the government, the public, and the universe itself. And yet, despite being a conflict instigated by his creation of a murderous A.I., Banner is nowhere to be seen when these consequences come about.
As his teammates are dealing with the Sokovia Accords, the death of T’Chaka, Baron Zemo, and a fractured, persecuted Avengers, Banner is off-world, being pampered like a Greek hero as he brutalizes his way through Sakaar’s gladiator tournament. This probably hurt his teammates – especially Natasha, who begged Banner to return his spacecraft to earth and was subsequently hunted down by Senator Ross’s task force.
5 The Arrogance That Led To The Creation Of Vision
If the end always justified the means, perhaps Bruce Banner and Tony Stark creating the Vision could be forgiven or even celebrated. However, looking at the context, it’s an undeniably disappointing show of arrogance.
After Banner and Stark create the android-psychopath, Ultron, the Avengers spend the entirety of the film chasing around said android-psychopath and leave a trail of bodies in their wake. Yet, when they find an indestructible robotic host body that Ultron created and nearly uploaded himself into, they have the audacity to create another A.I. super-being without the consent of the team. If they’d been wrong – like they were with Ultron – they’d have cemented humanity’s extinction.
4 Failing To Defeat Thanos
Immediately following the events of Thor: Ragnarok, the Asgardian vessel carrying the remnants of their culture and population is attacked by Thanos and his forces. His sadistic children individually torture and murder the survivors to find the Space Stone, which was last seen on the now-destroyed Asgard.
Loki distracts Thanos long enough for Hulk to ambush the mad titan – yet it isn’t enough. After a few easy jabs, Thanos manages to outfight the green giant. Although they were similar in size and strength, Hulk’s underdeveloped fighting skills were no match for the trained warrior.
3 Creating And Becoming The Hulk
As it’s mostly told through a flashy title sequence, it’s hard to recall how Bruce Banner became the monstrous hero he’s been for over a decade in the MCU. In the super-soldier arms race that extended from World War II into the post-blip world, the then general Thaddeus Ross contracted Dr. Banner to recreate the serum.
Dr. Banner curiously accepted the task without being told exactly what he was working on. What’s more, he exposed himself to the dangerous levels of gamma radiation that ultimately changed him forever. To add insult to injury, he spent his remaining years trying to find a way to get rid of the monster. Instead of trying to find safer ways to live with the Hulk – a plan that took him less than five years to successfully complete – he put many at risk.
2 Creating Ultron Through Sheer Hubris
After recovering Loki’s scepter, Stark and Banner had the perplexingly foolhardy idea to use its cosmic A.I.-like power source (which would later be revealed as the Mind Stone) to create a robotic protective force.
Tampering with technology and science that’s barely understood is a horrible idea, but leaving it unsupervised to go to a party is definitively worse. The resulting chaos caused violence on a global scale and led to consequences that shaped – and in many ways broke – the MCU as audiences knew it.
1 Letting Natasha Go And Leaving Feelings Unaddressed
A complaint many fans somewhat justly lodged against 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron was the “rushed” romance between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff. While it isn’t immediately clear why Romanoff is infatuated with Banner, these two characters certainly had a lot of focus and connection in the first Avengers film.
Even though the Russo brothers pretty much ditched this storyline, it was clear that lingering and unresolved feelings still existed when they reunited in Infinity War. Unfortunately, these feelings were never addressed. It seems Banner didn’t take the time to work through his issues with Natasha – a regret that clearly pains him the moment he hears about her death.
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